So here's our first official blog entry after about three weeks into the trip.
Our time in Bangkok began with a rather exciting and almost overwhelming schedule of tours, visits and English classes. It finished with a beautiful farewell party from the church, with a feast that included fried squirrel - sling-shot and cooked for us by Noinon (the ultimate urban hunter-gatherer).
Our main challenge in Bangkok was definitely teaching English. We taught four classes all up and preparing for them took a lot of our spare time and thought-energy during the week (thanks for all your great idea Sharon!) The 'Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes' song was a definite hit, alongside 'Simon Says'. Josh's partial rendition of the All Blacks' haka to the 6th graders also drew critical acclaim. We got very creative with wordfinds, story jigsaw puzzles and other games that could be organised with paper and pen. The games were fairly chaotic in the end, and handing out stickers to the winners was even more so as cheating abounded. We hope the children took something away from it all, even if it was just associating English learning with fun. In our time here we have been able to see that having a decent command of English can open a lot of doors for young people. It also sadly illustrates the pervasive effect of globalisation on Thai culture, some results good, others really not. (Sorry this is a bit of a left-wing blog... But we think it's good for you!) ;)
Debs' class of 5th graders
It was Kanchana's hope that our time at the school would help build the relationship between the school and the Fa Sai Club. The Fa Sai Club is one of the primary activities of the Nonthaburi Church. It gathers children from a diverse range of backgrounds and ages (slum children to reasonably well-off children) and provides a warm welcoming environment to feel supported in their Christian faith and/or to have loads of fun. The Nonthaburi house where Kanchana, her foster-daughter Ney and Noi-non, Jean and their daughter, Fa Sai, live (and they gather for church) is open every afternoon for the children to play, hang out and chat - it's an incredibly busy communal environment almost like the Greenhaus three times over. The Sunday morning service makes space for them and most of Sunday afternoon involves lunch and more hanging out. Monthly activities gather nearly everyone involved in the Club (nearly 60) for a Saturday afternoon outing such as the Bangkok bike park that we joined them for. We both felt very inspired by the Fa Sai Club and the hope the offer to children in Nonthaburi, particularly some of the poorer children who have had very hard backgrounds. It spoke to us of a sense of fun, belonging, and freedom from fear.
Bike park excursion with Fa Sai Club
We also had some time out to explore Bangkok area. Our first trip was to watch a movie called Hereafter at the local 'Esplanade' - a lavish (although mid-range) mall down the road. The movie wasn't very good, the Korean BBQ meal was great, and the discovery that you can only get a decent flat white from McDonalds was bizarre and disconcerting. We also took the Skytrain into Bangkok with Kanchana and Tospon to wander around the truly lavish Paragon Siam. However with Josh feeling the revenge of some bad tempered digestive bacteria it was a bit of an endurance window-shopping experience. The Thai Cultural show at the massive theatre of [insert name] was amazing however, can't say we've ever seen such a spectacular stage performance.
We visited Pattaya (the closest nice beach to Bangkok) with Kanchana and Tospon to have a swim at a tropical island. Pattaya is a remarkable place mainly for the concentration of "farang" looking to have a good time on the beach, in clubs and however else they feel. The majority of the crowd are retired Europeans that, from all appearances, seem to enjoy imposing their culture on everyone around them. I'm not saying we're exempt from complicity in this either, but we do at least try to be subtle rather than, for example, treating everyone at breakfast to our favourite dance club tunes from a portable stereo. The beach at the island was really nice to swim in but probably the most crowded beach in the world, and the most extortionate. Debs felt pretty crook both ways on the boat trip but cheered up significantly upon landing.
A visitor from China celebrating New Years at the beach
We self-navigated our way to Ayuthayya (ancient capital of Siam) to check out the extensive city ruins. The city is amazing in the way it has developed its modern sections around the old structures. Plenty of parks and quiet streets make it a very peaceful place. One highlight was catching a glimpse of a komodo dragon slithering from one canal to another.
One of the many impressive ruins in Ayutthaya
Our time in Bangkok wrapped up with Nonthaburi Church throwing us a farewell party! We have felt entirely honoured and humbled by their hospitality. The evening consisted of the girls of the church performing traditional dances for us and then getting us to join in. A game of 'Who Can Guess the Most About Debs and Josh' resulted in a lot of laughter, excitement and the victor receiving a tube of Pringles. This was all followed by gift giving, thankyous, a lavish meal and special Thai
desert. We felt very honoured by the evening and an overall sense of real connection to these people.
We're now in Chiang Mai making connections with some more wonderful people and getting adventurous in our explorations.
Lots of Love
J&D
P.S. Hope the births go well Moo and Lou! We're thinking of you!
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